SCHOOL NEWS

HARPUR COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Kenneth Lindsay, professor emeritus of art history, died on March 2, at the age of 89. Lindsay joined the Harpur faculty in 1951, and taught at the College for 40 years. He worked in the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the U.S. Army that saved thousands of pieces of artwork which were looted by the Nazis. Lindsay discussed his work in the 2006 documentary "The Rape of Europa". He is survived by his wife, Christine, a daughter, son and two grandchildren. View Prof. Lindsay's oral history interview videotaped during Homecoming weekend last year.

Linda Spear, distinguished professor of psychology, has been named to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

The 15-member council oversees and approves the entire portfolio of research for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health. The group decides on priority research areas and future funding for alcohol-related research throughout the United States.

Since 2004, Spear has served on the NIAAA’s Extramural Advisory Board, a board of alcohol experts charged with reviewing the entire research portfolio of the institute and recommending future research opportunities to the council. She will continue in that position as well. Read more in Inside BU.

It’s impossible to understand the history of anti-Semitism, or of capitalism, without taking a non-ideological look at political theories on Jewish economics. That’s the view of Jonathan Karp, associate professor of history and Judaic Studies and author of a new book, The Politics of Jewish Commerce: Economic Thought and Emancipation in Europe, 1638-1848.

Political thinkers through the years have debated the economic role of Jews. Yet Jews who study Jewish history have long avoided the subject of economics. Read more in Inside BU.

Myriam Cohen, a junior majoring in biology and English, is doing her part to assist children living with cancer. She has formed a campus chapter of Team Sunrise, which raises money for Sunrise Day Camp, the nation’s only day camp for kids ages 3-16 with cancer.

“It’s a cause that everyone knows about and everyone understands,” said the 20-year-old junior from Queens. “And every child should have the chance to experience a day camp.” Read more in Inside BU.

THOMAS J. WATSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

Mohammad Younis has worked for years to understand the vibrations and mechanics of these miniscule micro-electro-mechanical systems, known as MEMS. The work paid off late last year, when Younis, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Binghamton, received his first patent.

The patent is for a MEMS device that would detect acceleration and mechanical shock. The device, he said, would be able to recognize when something crashed with a high level of force and then perform a desirable task. Applications range from protecting the hard disk of a laptop computer to deploying a side-impact air bag. Read more in Inside BU.

Ying Sun, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Binghamton, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious program for young faculty.

Sun’s work, which could lead to improvements in environmentally friendly electronics manufacturing as well as advances in solar power, has been recognized with a $400,000, five-year grant from the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. Just 15 percent of applicants received grants. Read more in Inside BU.

The Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP), was featured on PVTech.org (a London- based news source) and in The Empire State News about the $4 million dollars in funding the center received from the federal government. President Lois B. DeFleur and Seshu Desu, dean of the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science, were also featured. “We all feel the pinch of rising energy costs and as a society, need to explore alternatives,” Desu said. “At the Watson School, our faculty and students are working on addressing the greatest challenges of our technology-intensive society and harnessing low-cost alternative energy sources is at the forefront of our priorities.”

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Binghamton University ranked No. 48 in the 2009 BusinessWeek list of the nation's top undergraduate business programs. The School of Management received a grade of A for quality of teaching and an A+ for job placement. See the list of America's top 50 undergraduate business schools on the BusinessWeek website.

Hiroki Sayama, assistant professor of bioengineering, and Shelly Dionne, associate professor in SOM, were featured in Reliable Plant magazine regarding a grant their research team received from The National Science Foundation. The collective dynamics of complex systems (CoCo) researchers focus on human-decision making. The $550,000, three-year NSF grant will support a project focused on an evolutionary perspective on decision-making.

COLLEGE OF COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Students and faculty from the Department of Social Work were featured recently in The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, as well as several local news stations, about a 10-day trip to New Orleans, where they provided mental health services to people recovering from Hurricane Katrina. The trip was the second time Binghamton students traveled to New Orleans to assist hurricane victims.